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Monthly Archives: January 2013

At the Warsaw Zoo, in Warsaw, Poland, a baby giant anteater has been born. The male baby was born on January 18, and is the fourth baby for the zoo’s breeding pair.

Female Giant Anteaters normally give birth to a single pup, who rides on its mother’s back for several months. This offers not only free transportation for the pup, but excellent camouflage as well: the pup’s black and tan color bands line up perfectly with those of the mother, making the pup nearly invisible against mom’s shaggy coat. By the time the pup is ten months old, it is independent.

Native to much of South America, Giant Anteater are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of nature (IUCN). In the last decade, the population of wild Giant Anteaters has declined by about 30%. Zoos are doing what they can to ensure this species survival.

A species of African monkey little observed in captivity or the wild was born at the Sacramento Zoo in Sacramento, California over the weekend.

The arrival of the Wolf’s Guenon monkey was the first infant of Mimi, born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007, and Eddie, born at the San Antonio Zoo in 1995. Both were welcomed to the Sacramento Zoo in the Fall.

Wolf’s guenons live in trees south of Africa’s Congo River. The species was named after the person who first described it for science. They’re rather serious looking but are quite social, and they feed on insects and fruit.

“Little is known about Wolf’s Guenons because of their small population in zoos. In the wild, the dense forests in which they live make them hard to spot,” said Harrison Edell, Sacramento Zoo General Curator. “This birth is significant to the Sacramento Zoo; with every birth, we learn more about this species’ biology, contributing to our overall knowledge about this species.”

Born at Zoo Atlanta, in Atlanta, Georgia, a seven-year-old male Asian small-clawed otter, the world’s smallest otter species, has moved to Seattle, Washington at the Woodland Park Zoo, and must be examined for quarantine protocol. Eventually the otter will be joined by a female otter arriving from the Bronx Zoo, and the pair will be part of the zoo’s new Asian tropical forest exhibit now under construction. Following the exam, which included x-rays and a weigh-in, the otter will remain in a temporary, off-view exhibit until the exhibit opens in May.

Okunoshima is a small Japanese island, located in the Inland Sea of Japan, in the Hiroshima Prefecture. What’s special about this place is that it is crawling with rabbits, a true bunny paradise. Nicknamed the Rabbit Okunoshima attracts thousands of animal lovers every year. Feeding bunnies can be one of the most relaxing pastimes, and people come here to do just that. The island is a popular day-trip and weekend holiday destination.

In the early 20th Century, Okunoshima, served as the base for the Imperial Army’s lethal gas operation. Over 6,000 tons of about 5 types of poison gas were manufactured on this very island between the years of 1929 and 1945. The mission was top secret back then, so Okunoshima was actually omitted from maps and workers were sworn to secrecy. Today, you can still see the ruins of these factories on the island. Given its history, there are several explanations of the unusually large number of rabbits in this place. Some sources say they were brought over during World War II, and when the war ended, the workers are said to have released the rabbits into the wild. Other sources claim that a group of children were on a field trip at Okunoshima in 1971, when they left behind eight bunnies. Though we may never know how the first rabbits got on to the island, they made sure to leave behind hundreds of their progeny to roam the island today. Hundreds might not sound like a lot, but on an island just 2.5 kilometers in circumference, they definitely make their presence felt.

The rabbits of Okunoshima are wild, but well-accustomed to the presence of humans. Sometimes they approach tourists, especially during seasons when natural food sources are low, hopping on to laps much to the delight of visitors. Carrots, cabbage and rabbit feed (sold at the island hotel for about $1 a cup) are what they prefer the most. Rakuten, a travel company, offers a tour called ‘Let’s Play with Rabbits’, in English and Japanese, because an island full of bunnies is pretty hard to resist. Hunting the rabbits is strictly forbidden, and so is bringing cats and dogs on the island. If you fancy felines, you can visit Japan’s cat island, instead. Okunoshima is all bunnies, all the time.

Even though tourists flock to Okunoshima to see the rabbits today, the island’s also home to the Poison Gas Museum. The island has been declared safe for tourists now, but are generally advised to stay on official walkways and paths. Generally, if you’re hanging out where the bunnies are, you’re cool. B-)